The Clueless, the Smart, and the Shocked
by AirGirl Phantom
Summary: What happened to the DP characters after FwD? What did they think of everything that occured? Watch as mysteries unfold, sparks fly, and... odd things happen... like PMSing Goth girls... [some DxS] Please don't be discouraged by the short first chapter!
1. Clueless Danny

**A/N: **Alright, listen people. The first couple chapters of this story are going to be on the short side, but they'll lengthen out soon! This occurs immediatly after the event of Flirting With Disaster.

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_"I wonder who's going to miss you more: The mad ghost hunter, or the frustrated little Goth girl who can't admit her feelings!"_

Danny lay on his bed, Technus' words echoing in his head. What had he meant? By "ghost hunter", he was probably referring to Valerie. But when he said "Goth girl"… Did he mean Sam? He must have; Danny couldn't think of any other Goth girl he knew.

But then, what did Technus mean by "can't admit her feelings"? What feelings was he talking about? Questions swirled around in Danny's head; questions that he just couldn't answer.

_There's a difference between Sam and Valerie, though. I really like Valerie. I like Sam, too, but she's just my best friend… right?_ Danny mused, baffled.

He sat down on his bed and sighed. It was probably nothing.

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**A/N: **Alrighty... Please Review, and tell me whatcha think of it so far. The next update will come very soon, but I'd like at least one review first! Thanks!


	2. Smart Valerie

**A/N: Here's chapter two! **Please excuse any errors in quoting. I only saw the episode two times...

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Valerie was thinking angrily about the battle she had had with the ghost boy up in outer space. She had come so close to winning! The ghost had even been at her mercy at one point, until he escaped. Why couldn't she ever capture him?

_Maybe… maybe I'm just not good enough… Or maybe I'm not meant to be a ghost hunter? _Valerie thought morosely. _NO! I've gotta stop thinking less of myself! I'm good enough; that stupid ghost boy just keeps getting lucky._

The teenaged ghost hunter began to let her mind wander (although it didn't quite stray from the topic of ghosts). She found herself reliving the incident in which she and her father were faced with the ghost boy.

**(Memories)**

"_There's an evil ghost in there who's trying to take control of your super-computer!" the ghost boy exclaimed, pointing at the machine._

"_Yeah, and we're looking at him!" Valerie retaliated angrily._

_With the jet pack in hand, the ghost boy shot over to an astronaut's suit and grabbed the oxygen mask. Putting it on, he switched on the rockets. Then, he turned intangible and flew up through the roof. Very soon after, Valerie followed._

**(End memories)**

Valerie thought about this for a few minutes. She analyzed every detail of those few moments. Suddenly, she realized something odd about that situation.

That oxygen mask was used to breathe in outer space. But if the ghost boy really were a ghost, he'd be dead, and wouldn't have to breathe. But he had taken the mask anyway. Had he been bluffing?

_But why would he? _Valerie thought, extremely confused._ But then, if he wasn't pretending, then he took the mask so he could breathe, _she reasoned. Then, yet another question arose: _Why would he need to breathe?_

_

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_

**A/N: **OoOoOoOoOoOo... Please review this time people! And I know for a fact that **whirlgirl **has this story on her alert list... It really makes me feel good when people review... And tell me if you think I should change something, please mention it in a review, and I'll try my best to fix it!


	3. Shocked Sam

**A/N: **Thanks to the two reviewers: xXxPrincess of DreamsxXx _and_ Phantomgirl040304 (anonymous). Anywho... This is where it starts getting a little confusing. This chapter takes place in the evening. The next chapter takes place right after school. And they both take place on the same day! So please don't get confused!

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Sam sighed deeply. She barely ate at all; she only picked at her salad.

"Sammy, honey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom," the Goth girl replied glumly. After a short pause, she laid down her fork and sighed. "I'm not really hungry. I'm going to my room."

She walked slowly up the stairs with her parents casting worried looks her way.

While in her room, Sam lay on her bed and contemplated some of the previous day's events.

_What is wrong with me? Am I jealous of Valerie? _She answered her own question easily. _Yes, yes I am. Or I was, anyway. OK, so I like Danny. As more than a friend. And I **cannot** believe I have finally admitted that to myself._

_But what am I gonna do about it? What if he doesn't like me back? What'll happen then? Our friendship would go down the drain, that's for sure. It's basically a lose-lose situation. He likes Valerie, anyway…_

Sighing, she stood up and walked over to her desk, opened a drawer, and took out a small, velvet-covered jewelry box. In it was only one thing: The ring Danny had asked her to hold onto for him. For some strange reason, it had held her attention ever since Danny gave it to her. She picked it up.

The ring was fairly pretty. Sam fingered it, feeling its cool, smooth surface. She remembered that something had been engraved on the inside. Raising it to eye level, she looked into the inner curve, only to immediately drop it in shock.

_Did it seriously read that, or am I hallucinating? _Sam thought in bewilderment. She kneeled on the floor, grabbed the ring, and looked at it again.

"Wes," she read out loud. "Wow. For a minute I thought it had been – "

She cut herself off as a sudden realization hit her. Slowly; disbelievingly, she turned the ring upside down.

She gave a sharp gasp of shock. The ring was not engraved "Wes". It read "Sam".

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**A/N: **Alright, I know that was a bit predictable and kinda lame, but trust me, it's gonna get a whole lot more interesting... Please please please review! They give me the drive to write!


	4. Bad Tucker

**A/N: **Alright, here's chappie 4! Now, this is where it might get confusing. Remember, the last chapter took place at night, but this one goes back in time and takes place after school the same day. Oh and thanks again to **Phantomgirl040304**, who is an anonymous reviewer. If you're reading this, I'd appreciate it if you'd register, log in, or give me some way to contact you (ie, e-mail). Thanks! Here's chappie 4!

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_Aww… Why'd I have to get detention? Again! _Tucker Foley thought miserably, sitting near the back of Mr. Lancer's classroom. In detention with him were three other freshmen, all boys. He'd never met them before…

Tucker had received detention because he forgot to get a recent test signed by his parents. (Now that he thought back on it, he had been helping Danny fight ghosts the night he was supposed to get it signed...) So now he was sitting here, bored out of his mind, forbidden from entertaining himself with his PDA.

Mr. Lancer was sitting at his desk at the front of the room, typing something on his computer. For nearly twenty minutes, the room was silent except for the light tapping sound of the keyboard up front and the occasional sigh from one of the teenagers. Then, a bit of static was heard as the intercom system came online.

"_Will Mr. Lancer please come to the main office; Mr. Lancer, please report to the main office. This is urgent!" _Principal Ishiyama's voice sounded. Mr. Lancer immediately stood up and started for the door.

Then, turning to face the students, he said, "Any monkey business and you will all get a week's worth of detentions. Do I make myself clear?"

Murmurs of general consent met his threat. Seemingly satisfied that he had assured good behavior, Mr. Lancer briskly walked out of the room.

"Man, I wonder what _that_ was about?" Tucker said softly to himself. A few moments later, out of pure boredom, he glanced around at the other teens. They were all fidgeting and talking quietly with one another, but it wasn't that much louder than it had been before.

Tucker stared up at the clock. It was still only 2:02 pm. There were 43 more_ long_ minutes left until he could go home.Taking another deep sigh, he rested his head in his arms on the desk. This was going to take a while…

**Meanwhile…**

Mr. Lancer strode down the halls at a fairly fast pace, remembering the 'urgent' part of Mrs. Ishiyama's summons. Before he knew it, he was pushing open the glass door to the office. Mrs. Ishiyama greeted him as soon as he walked in.

"Mr. Lancer; quickly! There's something you must see!" she said. She practically dragged him across the office and through another door. When inside, Mr. Lancer recognized it as the surveillance room.

"You know Daniel Fenton fairly well, no?" the principal asked him.

"You could say that, I suppose," Mr. Lancer said, straightening his tie.

"Well, I was recently looking at the footage from the security cameras around the school – you know, the normal procedure – and I was greatly unsettled when I saw the recording of the events in the front of the school, from security camera 2a," Mrs. Ishiyama explained in a slightly rushed voice.

"I see… But how exactly does this relate to Mr. Fenton? And what was it about the film that disturbed you?"

"Come and see," she replied. "And I warn you, it is very… intriguing…"

She led him to one of the many screens that lined the left-hand wall. It was paused at an image of Daniel Fenton standing in the middle, and near the edge of the screen was a small part of an indiscernible figure.

"Now," Principal Ishiyama started, pressing a button. The clip began to play. "You will notice some strange ring of light forms around young Daniel."

And, indeed, barely a full second into the tape, the aforementioned ring appeared a bit above the boy's waist. Then, Mrs. Ishiyama paused the tape again.

"Next, listen to the voice coming from the figure at the edge of the screen, and look at what happens to that ring."

She pressed the play button. Almost immediately, Mr. Lancer heard a graveling voice:

"_Ah, ah, ah! Secret identity, remember?"_

Daniel Fenton looked directly into the camera, and the ring of light vanished with a small _pop_. Then, the principal stopped the recording.

"What do you make of it?" she said quietly. Apparently, she had not quite gotten over the eeriness of the clip.

"I'm not quite sure," Mr. Lancer replied truthfully. This footage had definitely been interesting. "May I watch it again?"

"Be my guest!" Mrs. Ishiyama said, stepping back. And Mr. Lancer viewed it again. And again, and again, and again, and again… He kept watching it until Mrs. Ishiyama left, having other matters to attend to. He kept watching it until detention was almost over. There was something about it that he was very suspicious of…

At 2:40 pm, realizing what time it was, Mr. Lancer rushed back to his classroom. When he got there, he discovered that his students were (miraculously) civilized, yet restless. Only five minutes until they could leave.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick…_ The seconds crawled by like hours. Mr. Lancer could tell that the four teens were very impatient.

Finally, the after school bell rang at 2:45. The boys sprinted for the door, but only three would leave right then…

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**A/N: **So... Tell me whatcha think! I was just watching Flirting With Disaster one day, and this idea suddenly came to me! Please review!


	5. Suspicious Lancer

**A/N: **Grrr... Another short one... I'm getting frustrated... Well, I'm glad you guys liked the end of the last chapter. It never really struck me as a cliffie for some reason. Anywho, enjoy this chapter! YAY!

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"Mr. Foley, if I may have a word…" Mr. Lancer called. Tucker stopped right in his tracks.

_Aw, man! _He thought, turning around slowly with his head hanging dejectedly. _I thought I was gonna be outta here!_

"Please, take a seat," Mr. Lancer said. It didn't sound as much like an offer as it did a command to which Tucker immediately obliged. "This may or may not take a while…"

"But – "

"No buts," Mr. Lancer snapped loudly.

"Okay!" Tucker squeaked in reply, slightly intimidated by the sudden noise.

"Now," the perturbed teacher started. "Principal Ishiyama has shown me an interesting video clip from one of the school's security cameras."

_Pfft! Yeah right! If whatever he watched was interesting, then I hate technology, Sam is a popular prep who loves pink, and Danny doesn't believe in ghosts! _Tucker quipped to himself.

Not receiving a response from the clearly uninterested student, Mr. Lancer cleared his throat and continued, "And it just so happens that it concerned Mr. Fenton." That sure caught Tucker's attention. _Danny? That's weird… I wonder what this could be about? Well, I sure hope it's nothing to do with 'Invisobill'._

"In the recording, a ring of light appeared around Daniel's waist, and then someone off-screen warned him about a secret identity. The ring vanished," the teacher explained.

Tucker inhaled sharply, his eyes slightly widened with surprise. He quickly put on a straight face, his thoughts racing at the speed of light.

_Oh man! I wonder how much Lancer knows… If he's found out about Danny, there'll be big trouble!_

"Would you happen to know anything about this, Mr. Foley?" Mr. Lancer asked, even though his attempt at finding answers was futile; it wasn't like Tucker would ever reveal any secrets about his best friend to a **teacher **of all people…

"Um… Er… N-no, I don't know anything about any of this – that you've just mentioned to me that is – I think I'd better be, uhh… going now! Yeah, better get an early start on that homework!" Tucker said, stuttering. Before Mr. Lancer could call him back, Tucker was out the door, dust at his feet. The teacher just sighed.

_What kind of 'secret identity' could that boy have? _he mused, baffled. _How on Earth could it be so importantly confidential that his friend would rather do homework than tell about it? _It was all very strange. Then, the suspiciousness of it all increased by tenfold: _Wait a second… I didn't assign any homework today…

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_

Valerie sat on her bed, staring at her laptop while it started up. A long blue bar onscreen started filling up with blocks of yellow (signaling the loading process).

After thinking for a long while about all of her previous battles against (and in one or two cases, alongside) the ghost boy, and after searching those memories as thoroughly as she could, she finally came to a conclusion: The ghost boy was either not really a ghost, or only part ghost.

Valerie assumed the former; after all, how could it be possible for someone to be only part ghost? Then again, that's why she was turning to the Internet. She wanted to find out if it _was_ possible.

At last, the computer screen displayed her desktop: A collage of wanted posters of various ghosts. Opening the Internet, she went to Google, the best search engine on the web.

"Let's see…" Valerie said out loud to no one in particular. "I should probably start with a general search…" Thinking for just a moment, she typed "ghosts" and clicked the "search" button.

"162,839,475 results!" Valerie exclaimed. She definitely needed to narrow it down. She tried "Invisobill".

"Oh, that was a genius idea, Valerie!" the ghost hunter said sarcastically to herself as the screen finished loading. "Because 92,674,891 results is _so_ much easier to work with!"

Even though she got millions of results, Valerie decided to check out a few anyway. The first one she selected led to a fan site for Invisobill.

_That must be one-of-a-kind, _thought Valerie scornfully. She was about to go back when a colorful pie chart caught her eye.

It was titled "Good or Evil?". The key explained that the neon green section stood for the citizens of Amity who thought Invisobill was good. It read 32 percent. The other 68 percent – the ones who thought he was evil – was represented by a blood red color.

Valerie snorted derisively at the sight of the chart and hit the "back" button.

"Alright," she said, shaking the chart from her head, "Obviously, 'Invisobill' isn't going to work."

Then, surprised that she had forgotten it, she remembered the main reason she was doing this. Wondering what she might find, Valerie slowly, deliberately, typed in "half ghosts" and pressed "search"...

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**A/N: **Again, sorry it's short, but I really needed to get something out here. You know what? Time for A POLL!

What do you guys want more:

A. chapters as short as this once or twice a week... OR

B. longer chapters about twice a month?

Please answer!

Oh, and PhantomGirl, you can tell your mom that you don't have to post your e-mail online. There's options: you can choose to show your e-mail address, let people privately message you without seeing your e-mail, both, or none. If you don't want to give any personal info out, you don't have to. So please try to convince your mom to let you have an account! Thanks!


	6. Phone Call of Doom

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait peoples. I was banned from the computer because I kinda fell behind on homework... I'm starting to hate my Spanish teacher...

Anywho! Here's the next chapter! I know everyone wants to know what Valerie finds, but don't worry, that's next chapter!

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Danny lay on his bed, staring lazily at the ceiling, unanswered questions occasionally buzzing around inside his head. For at least half an hour, silence reigned. Then, a musical ring tone pierced the air, nearly causing Danny to fall off the bed.

"Hello?" The halfa answered his cell phone irritably after recovering from the slight shock.

"_Hey Danny! It's Tucker."_

"Oh, hey Tuck," Danny said, losing much of his anger. "Finally out of detention?"

"_Oh shut up. You've had twice as many detentions as I have!" _Tucker retaliated at the teasing tone in his best friend's voice.

"Whatever," Danny rolled his eyes. "So, what's up?"

"_The sky," _Tucker answered sarcastically.

"Ha, ha, ha. You're hilarious," the halfa replied, just as sardonically. "I meant, why'd you call?"

"_Well… First off, you'd better sit down, because you might not like this news…" _

"Oh, get on with it Tuck," Danny said, but with a slight unease evident in his tone.

"_Alright, here goes…" _With that, Tucker launched into a short explanation of his conversation with Mr. Lancer. Danny's eyes widened considerably as he spoke.

"What?" he said hoarsely after Tucker finished speaking. "You have got to be kidding me. Please say you're lying!"

"_Wish I could… Sorry, but it's the truth,"_ the techno-geek said ruefully. _"Apparently, Lancer either knows that you're half ghost and is pretending he doesn't (which is unlikely), or he's very suspicious…" _

"So what am I gonna do?" Danny asked desperately. "How am I going to keep this secret now that he's gonna be investigative and – "

"_Dude, chill!" _Tucker exclaimed, heading off his friend before a full-on rant ensued. _"All you have to do is lie low for a while. Try not to draw attention to yourself."_

Danny sighed. Tucker's suggestion seemed a bit clichéd, but he had a point. "Yeah, maybe that'll work… But what if it doesn't?"

"_Don't even start with the 'what ifs'. You'll be able to go on for hours. Just try not to stress out too much and you'll be fine,"_ Tucker told him.

"Alright. Thanks for telling me, Tuck. I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Anytime. See ya."_

After Danny hung up, he was immediately overcome with worry, not able to heed his friend's suggestion. Streams of what ifs flooded his mind:

What if Lancer finds out? What if he tells the whole town? What if they all end up rejecting me as a freak? What if my parents reject me? What if they throw me out of the house and I have to live on the streets? 

As he thought of everything that could go wrong, Danny paced nervously around his room. He walked the same path so many times that, afterwards, he was surprised that he hadn't worn holes in the carpet.

Eventually, after thinking things like, _What if they kill me?_, Danny started running out of ideas for what ifs, and began to calm down. But before he could, his cell phone rang again.

"Hello?" he said, with the slightest bit of tension in his voice.

"_Hi Danny." _The halfa immediately recognized the feminine, slightly monotonous voice as belonging to Sam.

"Hi Sam," Danny replied. All strain in his tone had vanished.

"_Hey, listen… Do you think you could meet me down at the park about five minutes from now?"_ Sam said with an undetectable amount of stiffness present in her voice.

"Uh… sure… But you do realize it's getting dark out, right?"

"_Yeah, but this is urgent, okay? I'll see you there."_

"Alright. Bye," Danny replied in parting. Barely taking a moment to ponder what was so urgent that Sam needed him _now_, he leaped into the air, going ghost in mid-jump. Then, he phased through the ceiling and promptly started for the park.

When Danny was half way there, he considered the fact that he probably should've told his parents or Jazz that he was going out. He even thought about turning around to do that. But that's when he spotted Sam.

To put it bluntly, the Goth girl didn't look happy. She seemed confused, deep in thought, and – upset?

_I hope she's not mad at me… _Danny thought worriedly, even though he hadn't done anything to displease her… Well, nothing he could think of…

"Hi Sam," the halfa greeted her after landing on the ground and reverting to his human appearance. "What's up?"

Sam looked up at him slowly, and sighed deeply before talking. Pulling something out of her pocket, she answered, "I'll tell you what's up. This."

Danny, of course, immediately recognized the small object Sam indicated. It was the ring he had wanted to give to Valerie… The ring he'd gotten from his dad… The ring that his dad had mistakenly engraved to –

_Oh no… _Danny thought miserably, figuring out the problem. The only thing he didn't know was how Sam would react…

"Danny," she said in a voice that was falsely sweet, "do you happen to remember who you were going to give this ring to?"

"Sam, I – "

"And do you know," the vegetarian continued loudly, now no kindness in her voice, yet not too much hostility either, "whose _name_ is carved into it?"

Danny knew she was mad now. It wasn't the words she was using, so much as the slightly shrill tone her voice had taken on. Why she was so angry was anybody's guess, though…

"Sam, please listen! It's just that – "

"YOU WERE GOING TO GIVE THAT" – Sam then called Valerie such a bad name that Danny was very concerned, and that passerby were beginning to look on with interest – "A RING WITH _MY _NAME ON IT! AND YOU KNEW, DIDN'T YOU? AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE A – "

At this point, Danny felt the need to butt in: "I might've known, but I _did_ care, Sam! I was nervous about giving Valerie that ring!"

"I DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU WERE NERVOUS OR NOT! YOU WERE STILL GOING TO DO IT, WEREN'T YOU?" Sam screamed at the top of her lungs. Now, every person in the area was curiously trying to locate the source of this tremendous noise (if they hadn't found it already). 

Danny still didn't know why Sam was _angry _about the ring. But, as she opened her mouth to yell at him some more, Danny decided to try and interject again.

"Sam, please! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!" the halfa exclaimed desperately. "What I did (or, almost did) was really stupid, and I know I shouldn't have! I just… liked her a lot, and I wanted to show her that…"

Sam just looked at him, her angry expression softening. Unfortunately, it turned into a slightly sad one.

"Sam… I promise, I won't ever do something like this again. Please forgive me," Danny said quietly, his light blue eyes meeting her amethyst ones.

"Yes Danny, I forgive you…" the Goth whispered with a strangely cheerless smile on her face. She then lowered her gaze and slowly turned around. As she walked away, Danny contemplated going after her and talking to her some more.

But that was when he suddenly shivered as a light blue mist shot from his mouth.

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**A/N: **Oh, how I love cliffies! Please review! It's makes me happy! And then I write more!


	7. Treacherous Trust

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to get this up! But trust me, this chapter will totally make up for it! Oh, and thanks to HORSELUVER101, but if you're still reading, it would be a lot more convenient for me, so I could just send you a review reply...

On with the chappie!

**Update: I made a few changes in this chapter. Thanks to KirstynT for pointing out my mistake. The only changes I really made were to replace the term "halfa" with "half-ghost." Shiznit, and the stupid page break things aren't working.**

**_ILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNY_**

"Oh, hurry up, you stupid computer!" Valerie exclaimed in frustration. Her laptop was so slow!

_In fact, _the ghost hunter thought darkly, _knowing my luck, I wouldn't be surprised if the stupid thing froze right now…_

Apparently, Valerie didn't quite know her luck, because the page kept loading… bit by bit… To while away the time, she took a look at the name of the website that was loading. It said (minus the spaces, but it's not a real website!):

"h t t p / w w w . t h e o r y z o n e . o r g / p a r a n o r m a l / g h o s t s / g h o s t h y br i d s"

Finally,the page appeared. The background of the page was a silvery-white color, and the title read "Theory: Ghost Hybrids". Valerie wasted no time in reading the whole (somewhat brief) article. As her eyes traveled down the page, they grew wider and wider…

_**Theory: Ghost Hybrids** _

_A lot of scientists and ghost experts alike disregard the possibility of the existence of ghost-human hybrids (also known as "half-ghosts"), saying and believing it is impossible. Thus, no extensive research has ever been conducted by them on it. But I have irrefutable evidence that there are two, if not more, of these unique hybrids in this world: my friend knows one._

_You might be asking, What is a ghost hybrid, exactly? Well, they are, as the name suggests, a cross between a human and a ghost. How they came to be is uncertain. It seems doubtful that a ghost and a human reproduced to create one. However, I have come up with a few likely theories:_

_1. When the half-ghost was still fully human, its DNA could have been altered somehow._

_2. They could have accidentally ingested ectoplasm (or some other ghostly material) and got it all in their system._

_3. They could have been over-exposed to the Ghost Zone (an odd world to which all ghost are native.)_

_While all or none of these may be true, there are still other possibilities out there._

_Ghost hybrids have a number of special abilities that no human could achieve. There are some things that even full ghosts can't do! For instance, a half-ghost can switch between a human appearance and a ghost appearance. While they may look different, there is no doubt that they will still be a half-ghost._

_Luckily, even though half-ghosts with a human façade will blend in easily, there are some slight signs that are unique to only them:_

_1. While half-ghosts can only use the entirety of their powers in ghost mode, there are a few they can still use in human form, such as invisibility, intangibility, and ectoplasmic rays._

_2. They might be secretive about things like where they've been and where they're going._

_3. When angered, their eyes may change color (usually they change to the color they are in ghost mode)._

_4. Like all ghosts, half-ghosts have something called a ghost sense that is triggered whenever a ghost is nearby. This power varies in form from ghost to ghost, but it's most commonly a kind of mist. The ghost sense can still happen while half-ghosts are in human form._

_5. Half-ghosts tend to feel a bit cooler to the touch than other humans. It's not as drastic as the icy cold of a ghost, but it is slightly distinguishable._

_Not much more is known about half-ghosts. The only other information I've gathered (with extensive interrogation and examination) is that one of the half-ghosts is a middle-aged adult, and that another is a teenager. So be on the lookout – one of your peers could actually be a powerful ghost hybrid… _

The last sentence was slightly eerie, in the way that it applied to Valerie: if the ghost boy really was a half-ghost, then a dangerous enemy could be in her very own school!

Valerie panicked at this thought. Who knows how many people he could hurt, or even kill? She would need to find him and stop him in any means possible.

_Which may mean, _the ghost hunter thought worriedly, _that I'll have to tell someone about this…_

Quickly, she went through a list of people:

Her dad? No, he would just get worried and over-protective of Valerie and possibly keep her home from school.

Mr. And Mrs. Fenton? Pfft. Yeah right, they would just get overexcited and mess everything up.

The mayor? Yeah, like he would believe her. And what would he do about it anyway? He couldn't go around and tell the whole town; it'd cause mass panic.

Principal Ishiyama? Valerie didn't really know her that well, and she wanted to tell someone she trusted…

One of her teachers? That was never going to happen. She trusted them less than the principal.

Beginning to run out of ideas, Valerie lay back on her bed, her dark, wavy hair spreading out over the pillow. Who did she trust more than anyone else in the world?

And suddenly, it hit her harder than a mile-long train going at speeds of over 200 miles per hour with a fast tailwind and the rails covered in oil – But I digress. Let's try this again…

And suddenly, it hit her: The only person she could trust with this sort of information was… Danny Fenton!

**_ILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNY_**

"Let's see…" Tucker said to himself, holding his PDA in his hand. "I've changed into my PJs…" He checked off a box next to "Pajamas" at the top of a list on the mechanical device. "I've brushed my teeth, shut off the computer, cleaned my precious PDA, checked for live dust bunnies under the bed, and made sure that there are no ghosts in the vicinity. I'm good!"

Tucker turned his PDA off for the night, and placed it on his desk. It was still a bit early (about quarter of nine), but to no one else's knowledge, Tucker liked to read before going to sleep sometimes. As he often fell asleep reading, though, he got ready for bed a bit ahead of schedule.

Tonight, he grabbed his current PDA's manual to peruse. (It wasn't as if he needed to, seeing as he had owned over a half-dozen of them in the past, but they had all been destroyed thanks to ghosts. He just felt like it.) Before climbing into bed, he took a look out the window. Then, he did a double take: Sam was out there!

Tucker immediately opened his window. "Sam! Sam, what are you doing outside in the dark?"

She looked up at his voice, slightly startled. In the light of a streetlamp, the techno-geek saw tear streaks all over her face, and around her eyes was pink and puffy. She had obviously cried long and hard. "Oh, hey Tuck," she said glumly, then continued walking.

"Wait! Sam, what's wrong?" Tucker exclaimed concernedly.

The Goth girl turned around to face the window he was leaning out of, and opened her mouth to speak. Then, she closed it and shook her head sadly.

"Alright… Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then," Tucker said as she walked away. He closed the window and got into his bed with the manual, wondering what could've made her so depressed.

_Well, _he thought, _whatever it was is going to get a talking-to, whether it's inanimate or living…_

**_ILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNYILOVEDANNY_**

**A/N: **Hee hee, how'd you like that chapter? I'm especially proud of the Valerie part! Please review, and I'll update ASAP. I can't make any guarantees, though, because I'm running two stories at once, and I may have a third one on the way... PLEASE REVIEW!


	8. The Not So Calm Before a Storm

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Sorry that this chapter's late. It also kinda sucks. But don't worry, the good part will be here soon! (in fact, next chapter!) But I have three major projects going on at school, so I might update kinda slow. But after school's out, I'll update way more often!

BTW, for any Teen Titans fans out there, I've posted a TT one-shot songfic called "Wish For You".

This chapter is dedicated to **darkflame1516**, who faithfully reviewed each and every chapter. I also thanks those of you who may have done the same!

Enjoy the chappie! And remember, the last we saw of Danny, his ghost sense had gone off.

* * *

Danny's eyes, now a brilliant green, darted around the seemingly empty park, looking for a ghost. Not seeing anything, the halfa took off into the now-dark sky, searching the area again, but from a bird's eye view. Still finding nothing, Danny began to fly away cautiously, still keeping an eye out for anything out of the norm. Then, he heard an annoyingly familiar voice:

"I am the Box Ghost! BEWARE!"

Danny sighed loudly and turned around to face the most annoying ghost he'd ever fought. "Let's get this over with fast so I can go home…" He drew his hand back, preparing to launch a beam of ectoplasm at the ghost in overalls.

All of a sudden, a rocket shot right past the left side of Danny's head, coming so close that he could feel the heat radiating off it.It hit the Box Ghost, sending him flying until he was no longer visible. Danny floated there, slightly surprised. Then, his ghost sense went off again, and he immediately swiveled around to face…

"Skulker!"

"That's right, whelp," the heavily armored ghost replied fiercely. "And this time, I _promise _that you'll end up as a wall decoration."

"Alright… are you promising this to me or to yourself?" Danny said insultingly, smirking at the look on Skulker's face.

The armored ghost didn't reply. Instead, he shot a rocket at Danny, who was hit and pushed over a hundred feet away from Skulker. Danny flew back towards him, only to be shot with a different rocket of some sort. This rammed him into a nearby building, making a rather loud noise.

"GHOSTS!" yelled two familiar voices in the near distance. Danny groaned.

"Great. My parents will be here in about five seconds."

**Five seconds later…**

"Get ready to eat ectoplasm, you fiendish spirits!" Maddie exclaimed, leaning out the window of the GAV with a large gun.

Skulker shot a glare at Danny that plainly read, _"I'll be back_", and flew away hurriedly. The halfa did the same, flying all the way to the roof of his ownhouse, and changing to human form, hoping he could remain undetected.

"Aww... We didn't catch any ghosts..." Jack said dejectedly.

"Don't worry, sweetie. One day, we'll get to tear those ghosts limb from limb," Maddie comforted him as they drove back to FentonWorks.

Back at the Fenton residence,Danny's ghost sense went off for the third time that night. Danny turned to see the Box Ghost again. He sighed and was about to change back to ghost form when the Box Ghost spoke.

"Wait, halfa! I do not wish to fight yet! I have a message for you!"

"Well, I don't want to hear it!" Danny exclaimed cantankerously. He went ghost and grabbed the Fenton Thermos from behind him, not noticing when the Box Ghost took a piece of paper from his overall pocket. Danny sucked the annoying ghost into the thermos and phased into his room as the note floated slowly to the street below…

* * *

A/N: The different-looking fonts below are each a different voice in Sam's head.

* * *

Sam couldn't sleep that night. She tossed, turned, and even fell off the bed, but she couldn't sleep. All she could think about was the "talk" she'd had with _him_. He just _had _to go and bring up Valerie. His words still sounded over and over in her head: 

_I just… liked her a lot, and I wanted to show her that…_

Every time Sam heard it, she was painfully reminded that Danny liked someone else, not her. It was complete and utter torture. Just thinking about it made her eyes well up with tears.

A lot of people would say this was a normal, hormone-driven crush, how she liked Danny. But it was different, and she knew that. Danny was the guy who made her laugh; the guy who was there for her no matter what; the guy who made the stupidest mistakes, but it was always comical. And then there was the fact that, even though Sam was rich enough to swim in a pool of money, the only thing she really wanted… was Danny.

And then, earlier that night, Danny went and broke her heart. Again. Worst of all, he didn't even know it. Sure, sometimes his cluelessness was funny, or even – dare she say it? – cute. But now… Now he'd gone too far. Way too far.

Sam didn't know how she was going to deal with this. She loved him, she truly did, but he liked someone else. And he thought he had it bad. While he was pining over Valerie, who he had little chance with, Sam was right there beside him.

_**Just tell him how you really feel,** _said a little voice in the back of her head.

_I've been through this already, _Sam replied, unaware that she was arguing with herself. _If I say that I love him, then he doesn't feel the same way, we'll never be able to look each other in the eye again…_

As the tears poured from her eyes, the torn girl laid her head on her pillow and attempted to sleep again. For hours, her subconscious was a battlefield.

_**Just tell him!**_

No, don't! Just keep it to yourself; you can admire him from afar.

**I say act helpless and make him fall in love with you. Then, you don't have to worry about rejection**

_That goes against your individuality! Are you nuts, woman?_

_**TELL HIM!**_

NO!

**No way!**

…_Maybe…_

_**If you tell him, and he likes you too, then you'll be happy. If you tell him, and he doesn't like you, you can move on. You could even just hang around to wait till he comes around.**_

But… How are you supposed to move on… without Danny?

…**Ya know what? I'm starting to like the first girl's plan…**

_Maybe you _should _just tell him. Then, he won't break your heartover and overagain. If he doesn't like you, then that's just one more heartbreak you'll have to live through…_

_**Exactly.**_

WHAT? Why are you all agreeing with her? This is wrong, I tell you! WRONG!

**_Tell him! _Tell him! **_Tell him!_

And so, Sam considered the arguments of all these odd voices. While she still felt miserable, she also saw a glimmer of hope: maybe there _was_ a way to solve this problem...

But would Danny ever forgive her for yelling at him like she had? Sure, _she _had forgiven _him_… Sort of… Okay, so she kinda hadn't meant it.

_Well, _Sam thought, _I guess if I want to say anything at all to him, I'm gonna have to apologize first…_

With that, she finally fell into a fitful sleep, still debating what exactly she was going to tell him…

* * *

And so ended a very eventful day. Danny was annoyed and slightly confused, Sam was heartbroken yet hopeful, Tucker was perplexed and a little angry, and Valerie was… determined. Oh yeah, and Mr. Lancer was just suspicious. Nothing more, nothing less. 

A piece of paper was left lying on the street, a ring tossed carelessly on the floor, a PDA manual completely forgotten about, a laptop accidentally left on, and…well, I won't say what there was at Lancer's place.

As Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Mr. Lancer slept, giant, dark storm clouds moved in over Amity Park. They were almost like a portentous sign of the events to come in the near future…

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter wasn't very good, was it? Please tell me what you **honestly** think. I guess this one was partly filler. But the next couple chapters are gonna be wicked intense.

Thanks to all my reviewers! Review moreplease!


	9. Fall to Pieces Part One

**A/N: **Hey everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers! And also... Here's the part where it starts to get good! Since this whole part is going to be somewhat long, I'm dividing it up. The first part is below, and it takes placein the morning. The second part will be around noon. If I have to, I'll make a third partabout after school. Enjoy the chappie!

Darn, I can't believe I keep forgetting this thing! For the first time, here's my disclaimer:

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. I am broke. If you come after me even after reading this, I will use my amazing numchuck skills to injure you.

_

* * *

_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be – _

**_SMASH!_** – With a flash of green, the short existence of Danny Fenton's fifteenth alarm clock came to an abrupt end.

"Danny, wake up!" Jazz exclaimed in exasperation, banging on her brother's door.

"Can't… Too… tired…" Danny groaned from beneath his covers.

Jazz sighed. How was she going to get him up this time? She could pretend a ghost was attacking. Or she could threaten him with the Fenton Thermos. Or…

Jazz smiled evilly as an idea formulated in her head. She raced downstairs and grabbed a large cup. Then, she filled it with cold water and ice cubes, and climbed up the stairs again.

"This is going to be good…" Jazz said quietly, still grinning. She went to Danny's room and cracked open the door to make sure it was okay that she went in. After all, she didn't want to invade his privacy more than she had to.

She crept slowly over to his bed, careful not to step on anything on the way. When she got there, she suppressed a giggle, pulled the covers off Danny's head and neck, and poured the water and ice all over him.

The effect was immediate. Danny yelled and sat up as fast as a bullet, then lost balance, tipped over, and landed hard on the floor, dragging his blankets along with him.

"Jazz!" he exclaimed in annoyance. "What the heck was that for?"

"To get you up," his sister replied, withholding laughter. "It's time to get ready for school."

As Jazz walked out of the room with a smug smile on her face, Danny untangled himself from his bed sheets. Grumbling, he threw them back on the bed and looked toward the place where his alarm clock had once been.

"Aw, not again!" Danny said irritably, seeing the damage he had inadvertently done to it. He sighed. He would need to get a new clock. Then again, he would probably have to ask Jazz to get one for him; with all the ghost fighting he usually did, there might not be enough time for him.

Danny was about to walk out of his room when the window caught his eye. Or rather, what he could see _through _the window.

There was a terrible storm brewing outside. The sky was an extremely dark gray, and he could occasionally see a small flash of lightning. But luckily, it wasn't too bad. The lightning wasn't significant enough to create any audible noise. It wasn't even raining… yet.

Only slightly put down by the bad weather, Danny sleepily dragged himself to the bathroom. He took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs. Still not knowing what time it was, he glanced at the digital clock built into the stove.

It was 7:10. Before last September, he would've been alarmed that he had only twenty minutes to get to school, and he'd beg Jazz for a ride. One painful accident later, he was no longer worried. He could get there in under a minute if he had to, thanks to his ghost powers. So he took his time eating a bowl of cereal and milk, brushing his teeth, and packing his books into his backpack.

Fifteen minutes later, Jazz had just pulled out of the driveway, and Danny Phantom was soaring leisurely through the skies. Although, he had to fly at a lower altitude thsn usualbecause of the storm, and he had to go invisible so people wouldn't notice him and trigger mass panic.

He reached Casper High just as the warning bell rang, and most people began to funnel into the school. He flew under a table and changed back to Danny Fenton just as he noticed Sam and Tucker walking towards the doors.

"Tucker! Sam! Wait up!" he called out, running to meet up with them. They turned to face him.

"Hey Danny! Where've you been?" Tucker greeted his friend. "There wasn't a ghost, was there?"

"Nah, I just felt like taking my time today," the halfa replied.

"Come on you guys, we're gonna be late," Sam said in a dull, apathetic tone that slightly concerned Danny. Sure, her voice was normally low and a bit monotonous, but she sounded a little bit depressed. As Sam turned around to head into the school, Danny glanced at Tucker. He seemed worried about the Goth as well.

* * *

"…And that's why Edgar Allan Poe decided to write poetry. Any questions?"

Mr. Lancer looked around at the class, not really expecting anyone to raise their hand. All the students were either slouching in their chairs or laying their heads on the desk.

"Good. Alright then… For homework – " At this, the class groaned collectively. " – I would like you to write three paragraphs about what I've just told you," the teacher instructed them. "And since you have about ten minutes left in class, you can get an early start on it."

Of course, no one really made any effort to start the essay. A couple of people reviewed their notes, but everyone else started doodling, talking quietly to each other, or staring at nothing in particular. Mr. Lancer sighed. No wonder nearly half of this class had a C average or lower.

The out-of-shape teacher sat at his desk and inconspicuously surveyed the teenagers. He saw a couple of the popular girls flirting with the jocks. And of course, Paulina was the center of attention.

Tucker Foley was fiddling with his PDA, or maybe one of his other devices. Whatever it was, continual beeping was emanating from the general area of Tucker's desk.

Sam Manson was looking rather down in the dumps. Judging by her eyes, she was close to tears, and she refused to look at anyone, even her best friends. Her pen wandered across a piece of paper, not making anything recognizable as of the Earth.

Danny Fenton was twirling his pencil around, staring at it with a glazed look in his eye. He seemed to be very deep in thought. While this was slightly uncharacteristic for the boy, Mr. Lancer could not help but wonder what he could be thinking about.

_Maybe it has something to do with this "secret identity" of his? _Mr. Lancer pondered. He had hardly stopped musing about the footage he'd seen the previous day.

Suddenly, a pencil flew past Mr. Lancer's head, nearly stabbing him, and hit the wall. The teacher looked around to see who had thrown it. When he spotted Danny's empty hand and wide eyes, his question was answered.

"_Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!_ Mr. Fenton! Detention, today, after school!" he exclaimed, pretending to be slightly angry. But inwardly, Mr. Lancer smiled. The perfect chance to interrogate the secretive teen had just arrived.

* * *

After leaving English, Danny groaned. "I can't believe I got a detention for accidentally letting a pencil slip out of my hand!"

Beside him, Tucker chuckled. "Come on, man. You've gotta admit, that was kinda funny!"

"Yeah, for you maybe," the halfa muttered tetchily. Suddenly, noticing a lack of input from a certain Goth girl, he asked, "Hey, where'd Sam go?"

The two teenaged boys looked around for their best friend, but couldn't find her. This raised concerns; the three friends nearly always walked together in the hallway.

"You know," Tucker began as they got to their lockers, "I saw Sam late last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She was walking down the street. And she looked really sad. I saw tear streaks all over her face. Do you have any idea what's wrong with her?"

Danny became slightly anxious. The previous night, when he and Sam had had a "discussion", she had walked away from him seeming pretty unhappy… Had she cried because of him?

"No… I have no clue whatsoever…" Danny answered Tucker absentmindedly while thinking about what he might've said that distressed Sam so enormously. After taking his books from his locker, Danny headed down the hall towards his next class, so deep in thought that he forgot to wait for Tucker.

"Danny!" Tucker called, running up to his friend. "You know what? I think you _do_ know what happened to Sam, don't you?"

The halfa sighed. "Okay, yes, I do. I think. Ya see, last night, Sam called me, and asked me to meet her at the park. She said it was important, so I came. It turns out that she found out that the ring I was going to give to Valerie had her name carved into it."

At the astounded look on Tucker's face, Danny sighed again. "It's a long story, and it was all my dad's fault."

"Alright…" the techno-geek began, "So… how does this relate to Sam getting all depressed?"

Danny then explained to his friend the conversation that took place between him and Sam. When he finished, Tucker slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Dude, you are _way_ too clueless for anybody's good," he said, shaking his head. "Do you have _any_ idea what you just told her?"

"Uh… I told her… that I like Valerie? What's so significant about that?"

Tucker opened his mouth to tell Danny about Sam's feelings for him, then decided against it. "Look, man… You're gonna have to wait until Sam's ready to tell you herself… But be careful what you say to her about Valerie."

"Okay…" Danny said, confused. Then, the bell rang for second period, and the two boys rushed to their classes, hoping they wouldn't be _too_ late…

* * *

**A/N: **Yay! It's my longest chapter yet! Over 1500 words! Woohoo! Please review, and you'll get to see what happens at lunchtime...


	10. Fall to Pieces Part Two

**A/N: **Sorry this took me awhile... But I think it'll be worth it. This chapter's even longer than the last one! In fact, every chapter is a little longer than the one before it, isn't that funny?

Oh, BTW everybody... If you've seen the newest DP movie, School's Out Ghoul's Out, I'd like to know what you thought of it. You can either PM me, or you can come discuss it on my forum. In my opinion, the movie was awesome, but the ending was a bit disappointing...

Enjoy the chapter! (Or else... LOL) :) (:

* * *

Twenty-two freshmen sat in Science during third period, highly anticipating the sound of the bell that would release them to lunch. The teacher had long since stopped attempting to capture their attention, and was now sitting at her desk, correcting papers. 

_Tick… tick… tick… _The seconds slowly passed by. Some students were tapping their fingers on their desks impatiently. Others were turning around and whispering to fellow classmates. Many were simply staring up at the clock, as the second hand kept ticking. And one… was sleeping. (**A/N: **Gee, I wonder who that is?)

_Five seconds to go…_

_Four seconds…_

_Three seconds…_

_Two seconds…_

_One second…_

_Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng!_

Most teens jumped up from their desks and sprinted out of the room. "Most" meaning everyone except for a certain trio…

"Danny, wake up, it's lunch time," Sam said bleakly as she walked away and through the door. Tucker was surprised that she even bothered trying to talk to Danny after what he (accidentally) did to her.

"Danny? Hello! Time for lunch!" Tucker said loudly, also attempting to arise his sleeping friend, seeing as Sam's attempt hadn't worked.

"Huh? What?" the halfa mumbled groggily. Raising his head off the desk, he blinked a couple times, yawned, and got out of his seat. "What's it time for?"

"Lunch! You know, the time of the school day where you don't have to listen to teachers?"

"Right, right…" Danny replied distantly, nodding. "Let's go." He gathered his books and followed his techno-geek of a friend out of the room.

**At Lunch…**

Tucker, Sam, and Danny sat at their usual table in the cafeteria. It had just begun to rain lightly; they couldn't sit outside. The trio had just left the lunch line and all had a tray in front of them. Sam's was nothing but veggies. Tucker's consisted of naught besides meat. Danny's had a healthy balance of the two. It was pretty vital for Danny to eat well whenever he _did_ eat; many times at school he didn't get the chance because of ghosts.

While Tucker and Sam were sneaking disgusted looks at each other's choice of food (as was commonplace), Danny began eating. It wasn't long before he was interrupted, however.

Dash and Kwan were walking towards Danny, grins plastered onto their faces. The halfa prepared himself for the verbal thrashing that preceded the physical abuse. But the dim-witted jocks just walked by, slamming Danny's own lunch into his face as they went, and then laughed.

"Gee, I wonder if this'll influence the number of hit-and-run accidents he causes ten years from now…" Danny said, turning small parts of his body intangible in sequence to get the food off him.

Tucker, having also noticed this odd occurrence, commented as well. "Looks like Dash has adopted a new style of bullying."

Sam was silent. Danny glanced at her, his eyes filled to the brim with concern. The Goth girl kept her eyes on her food as she slowly ate. Danny felt bad for most likely being the cause of this change of behavior. In fact, Danny felt worse than bad; he almost felt as if he was watching her dying… He would need to talk to her, and find out what Tucker had said she had to tell him.

"Danny!" called a feminine voice suddenly. The aforementioned teen peeled his eyes away from Sam and looked up at the sound of his name to see a certain ghost hunter striding towards him.

"Oh, hey Val," he replied, considerably happier than he had just been. Her presence made him feel a lot better. However, he had forgotten what Tucker had warned him about. If he had turned to look at Sam right then, he would have seen a tear or two fall from her face to the tray. "What's up?"

Tucker, unlike the halfa, _did _switch his gaze to Sam. And the sadness he saw in her angered him slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but Valerie beat him to it.

"Actually… I have something to tell you, Danny," the green-eyed girl said. "Come with me. We need to talk in private."

"Uh… Okay." Valerie grabbed his hand and led him past all the tables in the cafeteria and through a door. They ended up at the end of a hallway that was currently vacant.

"Listen Danny. Last night, I – "

Suddenly, Danny felt rather cold, and knew his ghost sense was about to go off. He panicked; Valerie wasn't stupid. She'd get suspicious if she saw blue mist coming from his mouth. So, he improvised.

"Achoo!" He bent over and pretended to sneeze. Before he returned his gaze to Valerie, he glanced left and right, trying to find the ghost that had triggered his ghost sense.

"Bless you," Valerie said, fortunately with no unease in her voice.

"Thanks. Now, what were you saying?" Danny replied, giving her his attention. Well, most of it, anyway. He still kept his peripheral vision peeled for anything out of the norm.

"Okay… I was just thinking about the ghost boy last night," she began. "And that's when I noticed that he's not like other ghosts."

"Uh… Really?" the halfa questioned, now slightly nervous. This did not bode well… "What did you notice?"

"Well… Don't you find it weird that he always has to go somewhere? I mean, after he does whatever he's there for, he leaves."

"I'm sure he has other things to deal with… Wouldn't you think so?" Danny was getting more worried by the second.

"And then there's the fact that, however much I hate him, he hasn't purposely caused anyone serious injury yet, except for ghosts," Valerie said with conflict evident in her voice.

Danny, however, was calming down now. It seemed that Valerie was only debating whether "Invisobill" was good or evil. He focused less on what Valerie was saying, and listened for the sounds of utter chaos that would indicate the presence of a ghost.

Not receiving a response from Danny, the ghost hunter pressed on. "But I know why. I did some research last night, and I found out that the ghost boy isn't like other ghosts for a reason."

"And what might that be?" the halfa replied, still not paying attention completely.

"Call me crazy, but… I found out that the ghost boy is only half ghost."

That sure captured Danny's interest. His muscles stiffened, his face paled considerably, and his eyes became wide with shock. "…What do you suppose his other half is?" he asked, his voice quivering tensely.

"It's obviously human. That's why his ghost form is humanoid, instead of being some weird animal or something." Valerie was so concentrated on figuring this out that she didn't notice her friend's sickly look and odd antics.

"Oh man…" Danny croaked apprehensively.

"I know; it's horrific – Oh my gosh, Danny, you look terrible! What's wrong?" she exclaimed, finally perceiving his appearance.

"I… uh… Well, I… er… I had to… um… walk to school today… and… uh…" The halfa searched his brain for the rest of his excuse, but he couldn't focus. He couldn't take his mind off of what Valerie had just said. She knew that his ghostly alter ego was also human! It would be only a matter of time before she found out who that human half was… He knew that Valerie would search diligently and determinedly. Danny was doomed.

"You weren't attacked by a ghost again, were you?" Valerie asked, with anger building up in her tone.

"Well… uh… actually…" Suddenly, a brilliant plan formed in Danny's head, despite the panic that garbled his thoughts. "Yeah, yeah I was. He didn't hurt me, though; he just gave me a scare. I think he said his name was the Box Ghost…"

"Oh, that creep?" Valerie said without thinking. "I mean – I've never heard of him. So you're okay, then?" She still didn't know that Danny knew she was a ghost hunter, so she was secretive about her knowledge of ghosts. And even though she corrected herself, Danny could easily see the wrathful look in her eyes, and knew that he had achieved his goal – the Box Ghost wouldn't bother him for quite awhile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the halfa lied through his teeth. In truth, he was far from "fine". But if he let Valerie know that – well, it was like the deal with his ghost sense: Valerie was by no means an idiot. She was suspicious of dang near everything.

"Alright then… Back to the ghost kid." Danny cursed mentally. He'd rather not get involved with her suspicions. Why did she have to confide in _him _of all people? "I think – " she began. Just then, Danny was saved by the bell. Well, actually, it was more like, Danny was saved by the screams of other teens and loud crashes coming from the cafeteria. Danny and Valerie glanced at each other, then ran towards the screams.

The two freshmen burst into lunchroom to face a horde of people trying to get _out_ of the room. They were both knocked down by the panicking group and struggled to get up before they became road kill. Danny, though he was concerned about Valerie, could not assist her with his ghost powers in the current circumstances. It was too risky. Trusting that she was tough enough to get along by herself, Danny became intangible and fell into the room below him. It happened to be an abandoned janitor's closet, a safe place to go ghost (which he did).

The halfa flew up through the ceiling and into the lunchroom to find… Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, as far as he could tell. Everyone who had previously been there had left, including whatever had scared them out of their wits. Danny slowly floated down onto the ground and started looking around for any evidence to show who had been there.

His efforts finally paid off. When he got to the table he had been sitting at, he realized that it was crooked and scratched up. To add to this ominous scene were a piece of folded paper and a bit of black cloth. Danny opened the paper to find a rather inauspicious note scrawled on it:

_Danny Phantom – _

_I found your weakness._

_Signed,_

_No One in Particular

* * *

_

**A/N: **0o0o0o0o... An ominous note and a piece of cloth...What's happening now? If you think Danny's life is going to get seriously screwed up, then you're right! Oh, I feel so evil for what I'm going to do to Danny... Muahahahahaha... Review please!


	11. Insanely Important!

**Insanely Important Author's Note!**

**This is the end of "The Clueless, the Smart, and the Shocked"!**

**Yes, you read that right. I have decided to make chapter 10 the end of the story. Then I will post a sequel.**

**So…**

**Thanks to all my reviewers!**

**And look out for the sequel:**

"**The Kind, the Cruel, and the Psychotic"**

**It'll be up in a few days!**

**Signed,**

**AirGirl Phantom…**


End file.
